A Connecticut chef is bringing a taste of her culture back to TV.

The second season of the cooking show “Instant Italian With Anna Gass” will premiere on June 29 with back-to-back episodes, according to A+E Global Media. The FYI Network show is hosted by New Canaan-based chef, cookbook author and culinary influencer Anna Francese Gass. 

Francese Gass is the author of  “Snacking: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Every Hour of the Day,” “Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women” and “The Pasta Queen: The Art of Italian Cooking.” She also posts recipes to her Instagram account with over 143,000 followers. 

During each half-hour episode, Francese Gass will put a “creative spin” on classic Italian recipes, according to A+E Global Media. Among the dishes featured this season are tiramisu brownies, shrimp scampi meatballs, arancini casserole and limoncello olive oil cake. The recipes draw “inspiration from her childhood visits to Calabria” and are aimed at being “approachable for home cooks.” 

To make the series happen, Francese Gass said she combined her passions for journalism and public speaking with her love for cooking, something she grew up with. 

“My mom is an Italian immigrant, so food is really the nucleus of our home,” Francese Gass told CT Insider last year. “The kitchen is just, it’s my happy place.” – Includes previous reporting by Lilli Iannella

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This article originally published at Connecticut chef’s Italian cooking show returns for second season.

Dining and Cooking